Plan on doing my first Tri 2011



Deafwolf

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Jun 21, 2010
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Having participated in the bike only portion of the LA Triathlon in Oct 2010, I drove away with one strong feeling... guilt. I felt guilty for entering the bike ride fresh, racing against so many riders who pounded the surf before the turf. And frankly, I can't accept that. Last year I focused on criterium racing. I intend to focus a lot of energy into bike racing again this year, but I also intend to do some triathlons as well, at least an olympic distance. But first I have a half marathon to run.

So if you are reading this, and have any pearls of wisdom to share, please do so. Whatever motivates you to get out and train, what ever guidance you recommend, diet suggestions, and how to work around a full time work schedule and class two nights a week.

Currently riding 34 miles every saturday with a group, usually with good climbs. I run 2.5 miles 3-4 days a week during my lunch break. I also try to fit one long run into my schedule once a week. Last long run was 5.5 miles. 3 weeks before that (before the rains hit) I did 8.25 miles. The half marathon on January 8th is 13 miles. After this run is over, I intend to put more focus on the bike, increasing lactate threshold (no power meter, too damn expensive) and improving my swim.

I can run a moderate pace of 8.5 min miles for a good distance and am holding up ok. I can ride 50+ miles without a problem. But the swimming.. I cross the pool and I'm out of breath.

And that is my progress so far.
 
You should try to do two sessions on each discapline a week. Your swimming distance will come the more you do it, for now just aim on building up your distance and then you can start looking at working on your technique. Total immersion is a good book/DVD to help with swimming and technique. Being your first few triathlons your aim will probably be to complete them rather than compete. SO working on building up your stamina rather than your speed in the three discaplines should be your goal.
 
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On the swim, I guarantee your problem right now is technique, not conditioning. If you're not an experienced swimmer, you must take some lessons. The most common mistake a starting swimmer makes is kicking way too hard, which puts you into oxygen debt in no time. When you watch smooth triathletes who excel at swimming, it's surprising how little they kick. 95% of your propulsion will come from your upper body. The other trick is not having your legs sink, which comes from learning good body position in the water. Again, take a lesson, practice for 2-3 weeks, take another lesson, repeat.
 
I think the distances you are training your running and cycling are way too short...
If you want to compete in a half marathon i would suggest you to double your running training miles.
A 2.5 miles training doesn't give you a very good basic condition.

On the swimming like the other guys suggest, you need to invest to see a professional technique trainer...
I'm training once a week with a professional trainer, and he says what i need to do about my technique in my four other swimming trainings in a week.
But ye i think i just have more time than you to train cuz i'm a student... ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback. I was doing some longer distance runs of 8 or 9 miles on Sundays. I successfully completed the half marathon. I did well actually, for my first anyways. I completed the 13 miles in 1:50:48. My goals was to beat 2-hours. I trained pretty well for this run. I have a lady friend who has done two Arizona Ironmans. She was giving me some pointers along the way. I started the run pretty strong. Actually, probably too strong. I started pacing with a runner I met at the one mile marker. But by about the 3rd mile, I could feel I was going a little too fast. I held on for 6 miles, then let the girl go. I couldn't keep up anymore. At mile 8, I was slowing significantly. I wasn't hurt or anything, but the legs just didn't pick up like I wanted them to. Technically, it was still running because of the short "flight phase", but people were passing me. For the next two miles, I would try and motivate, pick up the pace, but it would just slow down again. By mile 10, my legs started to get back under my control again. At mile 11, I felt like I was actually running again. Mile 12 I needed to confirm that it was indeed mile 12. Now I'm running just as hard as when I started. At least I feel like I am, which was probably far from the truth of what I was really doing. But I was keeping up with other runners and even passing a few. When at last we turned out onto the road and I could see the start line banners, I just sprinted. Apparently, others had the same notion, because I had a hard time catching and passing them. Great photo finish though. And a great experience.

Swimming, I took a class as part of my major in Kinesiology. I'll get back in the pool and start focusing more on my arms and pacing. As for professional instruction, I am doing bricks with the LB Tri group. I'll see if I can't get some help and guidance there. Thanks for the support. I'll write again as the LA Triathlon gets closer. I'm already registered.
 
Couple of suggestions, depending on how fast you recover.
1. Run off the bike a lot. When you go out for your group rides, come back and throw your shoes on for ten-15 minutes even. That transition is the hardest one. The first mile of the 10k is just weird.
2. If you can get your hands on one, wear a wetsuit. It keeps you up in the water--makes it much easier to glide.
3. Figure on two workouts a week in each sport: one designed around speed, and one designed around endurance. The closer you get to the event, the more you want the "endurance" focus to be on race pace (eg, FTP).
4. Try 0 to 1650: http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html
It's a good plan for getting to swim a mile if you're a novice and have a hard time getting across the pool. Once you can do that, it's time for intervals. Key pre-race workout: 10x150 on 1 min rest, hard as you can to get through all of them. It's brutal, but it makes the swim seem like a piece of cake.
5. Realize that of all the disciplines, the swim is the least bang for the buck. Once you get to a point that you're not killing yourself, the return from additional training doesn't yield that much time. To wit: suppose you increase your 100m time from 2:00 to 1:50. That's only 2.5 minutes over 1500 meters. Raise your bike speed on 40K by a smaller percentage (18 to 20 MPH). You save 7-8 minutes. (Approximately).
6. Especially on the first one, the goal is to get out of the water and not be shattered. START SLOW. You will want to take off because of the excitement. Don't. You'll never get your breath back.

Now, if I could follow my own advice perhaps I'd get off the back of my age group. It's worth what you paid for it.
 
Congrats on getting started! You're going to become addicted, and it is going to be awesome. It seems like you're already improving, and your having done a half-marathon will translate well to the Olympic Triathlon distance. That's what you'll be doing for the next LA Triathlon, I take it?

One of the semi-morbid jokes of triathlon is that it's all about who has the most time to train. What to take from that is just that you need to get in every workout you can and focus on quality where you may be short on time. Swims can easily be combined with your bike or run days, and doing one Bike-to-Run workout a week is good. And I would also say that none of your workouts should be less than 20 minutes, and really, never less than 3 miles for runs.

Tips For Swimming:
kennf has it right. It is all about technique. If you don't come from a swimming background, watch a lot of YouTube videos on swim technique. The key elements of any swim stroke which you should be thinking of in the water are head position, body position, arm action, leg action, breathing, coordination, and smoothness and relaxation. Pay attention to what's involved for each of those and apply it in the pool. Do not look at your speed, do not look at the clock. Not yet. Once you can swim 500 meters with perfect technique, then it's time to speed up. No short-stroking, no water-slapping. Specifically for triathlon I would say that the most important thing is to just relax. A lot of new swimmers can get tossed around in the start of a triathlon, next comes panic, choking on water, and ruining the rest of your race with a belly full of lake or ocean nasties. When race day comes, be confident that even if every foot and every hand in the water somehow hits you in the face that you are just a calm little dolphin and nothing can phase you.

Tips for the Bike:
Being that this is a bike website I assume you are well-enough on riding technique, but I offer that the bike is the best place to work on your race-day nutrition. Long bike rides can show you what works and what doesn't. For Sprint/Olympic distance you can probably just use a few gel packets or a small gel flask, taking in about 100 calories every 20-30 minutes (find the time-line that works for you). Experiment with different brands to find your favorite. Also make sure to work on bike adjustments for your most comfortable aero position to save your legs for the run. The good thing about biking is that you can also use it for commuting, so if you're having trouble getting workouts in, use your trips to school and work as training sessions.

Tips for the Run:
I would suggest a GPS watch or a pedometer. If GPS is too expensive for now, maybe try a Nike+ iPod or similar device to track your pace. If you have such a device already, pay attention to it more. When racing you really do not want to get used to grabbing onto other peoples' speeds and trying to keep up. That's how you get pace-broken and crash. Learn about your body at different paces and formulate plans based on what could happen during a race. Know your average pace, it's that perfect pace that you can maintain regardless of how many miles you're running.

Transitions:
Transitions are all about rehearsal. If you plan to clip your cycling shoes into the pedals or put them on and run with them to the mount area, it doesn't matter, so long as you know you can do it smoothly. And avoid the picnic area transition. The simpler the better.

T1:
Before you leave the water, add some extra kicking to your swim to get some blood back to your legs, and think about your plan for getting to and on your bike. I have everything on my bike, so all I have to do out of the water is put my helmet on and go. And practice how you're going to handle the mount line. This seems silly, but watch some videos of people messing this up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjqEogQtVQ0
Remember, smooth is fast. You should jog to the mount line and pretend like you're in slow motion {on race day it'll still be faster than you think}. It helps to prestage your crank in the high gear with your cassette in the low gear, crank arms parallel to the ground, left pedal forward. Decide if you're going to run through transition with one hand on the seat, or both hands on the handlebars, or whatever. Are you going to stop, throw a leg over, and then clip in? Are you going to stay in motion and jump over the seat? Whatever the choice, practice it.

T2:
I really think that everyone, regardless of whether they have tri-shoes or regular cycling shoes and regardless of whether they pre-clipped their shoes for T1, should remove their shoes and pedal on top of them heading into Transition 2. It's a very easy way to get the free time. Run bare-foot to your run gear.


I've gone too long again. There are a lot of great tips out there for beginners, so I'll just say that the best thing you can do is obsess over every detail. Really think about what works for you. How you can go faster. What other people are doing is not always right. It's not a one-size-fits-all experience.

Enjoy it! And I hope this wasn't too boring.
 
Boring??? Are you joking? This is great. Thanks for all the great info. I also appreciate when links are posted like the one you provided. I'll start watching some youtube videos tonight to help inspire me into the water soon. I've been putting that off in favor of work, bike, and fun. I might even need a class to force myself to start.
 
There are quite a few, FREE training plans out there for the appropriate distance. I highly rec. finding one that fits your work/personal life. If you don't have a plan, it makes it very difficult to train effectively.
 
Thanks johnnythomas. I'm really happy you're here to spam the forums with life insurance advertisements. Keep topping dead threads from early 2011, that will make you all kinds of popular and about as effectual as a creeper handing out strip club flyers.
 

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